SOCCER WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING: HAVING SPENT almost two years rebuilding Ireland's credibility as contenders for qualification, Giovanni Trapattoni has, in total, about a week with his players to iron out the flaws that again undermined the team's hopes of winning against top-class opposition over the weekend.
The Ireland manager was left furious by the inability of his players to defend their late lead against world champions Italy after, first, Glenn Whelan and then, four minutes from the end, Seán St Ledger had scored for the home side.
But he will have just three days this week and four during the build-up to the first play-off on November 14th to engineer the improvement required if his side are to be capable of beating one of the world’s leading sides.
The draw takes place next Monday in Zurich, when Ireland will almost certainly be paired with France, Russia, Portugal or Greece.
There will, he said, be two or three changes for Wednesday’s game against Montenegro, the only significance of which at this stage is in terms of ranking for future tournaments. Whelan is suspended after being booked on Saturday night, but Trapattoni said the threat of other players earning a suspension for the play-offs would not influence his team selection this week.
Aiden McGeady, Keith Andrews and, perhaps most critically, Shay Given are the other regular starters who carry a card into the game. But the Italian, while conceding they might not all play 90 minutes, maintained there should not be a problem for the goalkeeper, “unless he talks too much”.
Damien Duff joined the squad over the weekend and could be in contention to play on Wednesday, although the manager might decide to rest the Fulham winger rather than risk him picking up an additional injury.
The veteran coach yesterday described his attempts to improve the side as “a slow process”, and conceded they still lack the combination of experience and confidence required to kill off a game against opponents of Italy’s stature. He bemoaned the limited amount of time he has to work with the squad, but insisted they can make it through the play-offs and into the World Cup, particularly if they can learn from the world champions.
“It’s not easy to change because they (the players) go back to their clubs where they have different habits, and so you build something slowly,” he said.
“When you work with players every week and lose a game, you work immediately afterwards to improve the situation. Here it is different. But I will show our players the movement of Italy. The way Camoranesi’s movement put us in difficulty.
“We were also missing a little bit of their experience,” he said. “With it we could have controlled the game with a little more savvy. We could have lost a bit of time and prevented the counter-attack (that led to Alberto Gilardino’s late equaliser). They did not make mistakes with passes, it was a beautiful goal. It was right, because they did not make many mistakes like we did. But I am happy enough because it does not change the table.”
After the game, Trapattoni had praised the attitude of his players, insisting they held their own against the more skilful Italians when judged in the only way that matters.
“It (the game) is not a show,” he said, after Marcello Lippi had said it would have been “very unfair” had the Italians lost. “It is about goals and results. If you’re talking about a show, then sure, I could say that they had the better actors, but that is not important.
“With silk you can make a tie,” he added. “With cotton you can make a shirt.”
The 2-2 draw sealed Italy’s qualification for the World Cup, while Bulgaria’s defeat in Cyprus ensured Ireland go forward to the play-offs. Trapattoni joked that his preference is simply to get “a team we can win against”, before observing that, after drawing with the world champions twice, his players need have no fear of whomever they are paired with.
“We have to accept what the draw gives us,” he said. “We played against Italy twice. In Bari, where it was 10 against 11, they had an excuse. But not yesterday.
“We must not be presumptuous, though. With the right attitude we can have the confidence about the next opponent. And my only preference is to play away first, because if you don’t it can be tricky.” The issue of who plays at home first will also be decided by drawing lots.
Whatever about the manner in which it was achieved, Trapattoni was adamant Saturday’s result should help his players’ confidence as they start to think about next month’s games.
“We have shown that we can play against anyone. Sure, we still have to rectify some little situations, but we know our qualities. Our strength is our attitude, our mentality and a compact team. I’m proud because the team follows me and understands what I am trying to do. We don’t have a Platini or Ronaldo. But we have a good, compact team. We showed the other countries that again against Italy.”
The FAI announced yesterday that, when the tickets for the Dublin play-off game go on sale, preference would be given to those who attend the Montenegro match.
“Anybody who turns up on Wednesday against Montenegro, our last game in the group, will be guaranteed a ticket for the play-off match in November,” said FAI chief executive John Delaney. “The demand for tickets will be absolutely huge.”
Delaney admitted he was disappointed with Fifa’s decision to seed the draw for the play-offs, but observed:
“Look, we are where we are. That’s all done and dusted. The manager is not afraid of anybody in terms of who we get in the play-offs.
“We’re delighted to be there and I know that Croke Park in November, whoever we get, will be a wonderful occasion.”
It should certainly be a profitable one for the FAI, although the scale of their windfall will depend on who the Irish come up against. Being handed another encounter with France would be the most lucrative outcome: the television rights money and various commercial income that would accompany a visit by Raymond Domenech’s side would deliver around €10 million of badly-needed revenue to the association.
